I Got my Baby’s Back

This is an exciting day. My wife and I are smoking for the first time.

Florida has a favorite barbecue joint: Sonny’s. It’s a chain that dates back to 1968, when a guy presumably named Sonny opened a place for the college crowd. Sonny’s became popular partly because of its cheap all-you-can-eat ribs, now, under Biden, $27 all-you-can-eat ribs. The thrill of stuffing yourself for very little cash is gone, but the food is still good. It’s not the best barbecue there is, even locally, but it’s very good, and it’s dependable. They use oak and low temperatures to make real barbecue, and the sides are nice. The chain has spread to some other states.

My childhood buddy Mike adores Sonny’s. He would eat there twice a day if he could. When he’s in town, Sonny’s is always a priority. I picked up him at the airport in Charlotte once, and we had to drive directly to a Sonny’s.

One of the many great things about the wife is that she loves meat. Early on, I asked her what her favorite food was, and she said, “Meat.” It wasn’t necessary to be more specific.

When she got here, we started visiting restaurants so she would get the feel of the US. When we hit Sonny’s, she nearly lost her mind. I believe we have visited Sonny’s more than once a week since she got here.

Sometimes when I ask her where she would like to eat, I say, “Where, other than Sonny’s, do you want to go?” If I didn’t, we would never go anywhere else.

We also visited the Artman Country Smokehouse, a family-owned place which is somewhat better than Sonny’s, for a little more money. She loves it, too. Their banana pudding is wonderful. Sonny’s used to have good banana pudding, but they ruined it.

I have a magnificent electric smoker. It’s a Smokin-It 2. I haven’t used it in a long time. I knew we had to fire it up. We can’t keep spending $50 on meals we can make better for $20.

Today we have baby backs going. I’m not a big baby back fan, because they’re small and not as juicy as real ribs, but they were on sale for 50% off, so I decided to take one for the team. I put my own rub on them, and the smoker is going at around 225°. We’re using hickory. I think it’s underrated. I really like oak, and I have an endless supply, but it’s convenient to reach for a bag of hickory chips at the store.

We’re making barbecue beans, macaroni and cheese, and Texas toast made with homemade bread. Should be very nice.

No banana pudding. I could make creme brulee, but I think I won’t mention it. I don’t want to give my wife ideas. It’s way easier than banana pudding, and it’s about as good.

I learned something interesting today. Crud builds up on the undersides of smoker vents.

Smokers have to have air passing through them, obviously. My smoker has one air vent in the bottom. It’s just a 3/8″ hole. It gets clogged up with crud that sits on top of it, and this changes the character of the smoke. It’s bad. I’m used to cleaning the inside of the smoker to open the vent up.

Today while I was cleaning, I found that crud also accumulates under the smoker. There was a knob of old crud down there, blocking the vent. I cleaned it off, and now my smoke is beautiful. Thin, like it should be.

Maybe this information will be helpful to other people.

I’ve never made baby backs before. Hoping for the best. At least we’re saving money.

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The food came out fine, except for the ribs. They were tender enough and juicy enough, but they were no match for spare ribs. I’ve always thought baby backs were a ripoff for suckers, and now, having sucked, I am convinced I was right.

I can’t say these ribs were bad. The problem is that they were not great. Spare ribs would have been great.

There was very little meat on each rib. There was nearly no fat, so less juice. I don’t get it.

I paid $9.60 for a full rack, which is half the normal price. For that I got under two pounds of meat that wasn’t all that great. Spare ribs often sell for around two bucks per pound, and you never have to make excuses for spare ribs.

I’m all done with baby backs, unless I still have some in the freezer. I’m going back to spare ribs and butts.

Sometimes it’s true: I’m right and the whole world really is wrong.